Before I familiarize you with my new bucket list, I’ll have to tell the story behind the need for revising my bucket list !

It all started one early morning a few weeks ago . I woke up as usual, much before the sunrise and headed straight to the kitchen to start the coffee filter, and hence the day. Lo, I seemed to have floated from the bed to a brook ! In my semi-sleepy state I thought that perhaps no.99 on my bucket list was being fulfilled !

In drowsy ecstacy I was ready to bend down and cradle the brook water in my palms while my heart recited Tennyson’s poem :

I wind about, and in and out,With here a blossom sailing,

But a mild smell alerted me to the contrary. I switched on the light and realized in shock that my kitchen was flooded. The water was covering my toes and the floor was slippery.

I felt like Noah surveying the Great Flood ! My immediate worry was about my choice of food to be taken into the Ark, were I able to build one ! Filter coffee ofcourse was mandatory on my list, and infact would be my only preference on the food list ; especially it being my coffee time ! The second choice in the list was wide open. Should it be my kids’ favourite chocolate drink, or their health malt that they would rather avoid ?! Perhaps the choco drink could double up as our dessert too, what with we all having a sweet tooth !

Then ofcourse I had to worry about the selection of living creatures for Puni’s Ark. Assuming that my two kids would willingly jump aboard the ark for safety (I bet they would rather swim and enjoy in the floods !), I can just let out our fishes in their natural habitat ! I could also imagine cockroaches, lizards and tadpoles sneaking onto the ark…..

Coffee Time in Puni’s Ark ! Pencil Sketch on Paper

My de-caffeinated brain protested against this thought overload, and refused to process my selection algorithm ! So, I shut off my mind and ambled to the bathroom. Brush in hand, I opened the tap expecting a smooth line of water, but all it could offer me was air. I tried the other faucets, with the same result. Phew… I now had a flooded kitchen and an empty water tank to tackle ! I switched on the motor and waited for the tank to fill again.

But I was not sure yet how the kitchen got flooded – was it a leak from the tap, or perhaps the drainage outlet was improper ? The flood water looked clear and clean… so my wager was on the former guess. In that case, would refilling the tank replenish the flood ? How am I going to throw out the flood water ? Is there a way other than manually scooping out the water ? My scientific temper flared and I visualized a siphon attached to a hose to redirect the water directly to the garden below !

But my brain, still decaffeinated refused to cooperate. So I decided to do what a coffee aficionado decides to do when faced with such calamity – have a coffee ! After all is there anything that cannot be solved over a cup of coffee ??!! Even if not, everything else can wait !!

I waded through my very own ‘brook’ and started the coffee filter. With coffee in hand, I waded out of the kitchen triumphantly with my prized beverage.

While thus lounging in my couch, coffee in hand, I became oblivious to the flooding and enjoyed the early morning bird songs drifting in through my window !. I think only Virgoans can sport such a leisurely attitude amidst a crisis ! Atleast, one Virgoan can 😉 !

Anyways, once caffeinated, I was in a dilemma on whether to stock up my ark or tackle the waters. I decided to clear the flood and tackled the problem in earnestness. After a good half hour of scooping, pushing and throwing out buckets of water, my kitchen floor emerged again, much like how Lemuria would from the ocean depths, if one were able to divert the ocean water from that spot. I smiled triumphantly.

Little did I know that my ‘bucket list’ had just started – with numerous check boxes embedded in it.